Where do chimpanzees live?

Chimpanzees can be found from Southern Senegal across the forested belt north of the Congo River to Western Uganda and Western Tanzania. Gombe National Park in Tanzania is the first park in Africa specifically created for chimpanzees.

What are chimps?

Chimpanzees are one of our closest relatives, sharing about 98% of their genes with humans. They have thickset bodies with long arms that extend beyond their knees, short legs, opposable thumbs, and no tails. Much of their body is covered with long black hair, but the face, ears, fingers, and toes are bare.

Behavior & Diet

The chimpanzee is the mammal most like a human.

They are noisy, curious, intelligent, and social. Chimps live in loose communities that can number anywhere from 10 to more than 100 individuals. They can share a home range that they protect from intruders and will sometimes forage for food in groups.

They enjoy spending time together.

Chimps touch each other a great deal and may kiss when they meet. They also hold hands and groom each other. An adult chimp often has a special companion with which it spends a lot of time. Female chimps give their young a great deal of attention and help each other with babysitting chores. Older chimps in the group are usually quite patient with energetic youngsters—not unlike grandparents.

Chimps are not picky eaters.

After descending from their night nests in the trees, they hungrily feed on fruits, their principal diet, and on leaves, buds, and blossoms. After a while, their feeding becomes more selective, and they will choose only the ripest fruit. They usually pick fruit with their hands, but they eat berries and seeds directly off the stem with their lips. Their diet consists of up to 80 different plant foods, and they will spend anywhere from six to eight hours per day looking for food. Sometimes, chimps supplement their diets with meat, such as young antelopes or goats. Their most frequent victims, however, are other primates, such as young baboons, colobus monkeys, and blue monkeys.

They can use tools.

Chimps have opposable thumbs and a firm grip. This allows them to pick up objects and use “tools” for certain purposes.

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Challenges

Chimps are losing their homes.

The number of chimps in the wild is steadily decreasing. One of the main causes is the alarming rate at which forests are cut down for farming, settlements, and other activities.

The chimpanzee is hunted for bushmeat.

While bushmeat has always been a popular source of dietary protein for local communities, the scale of hunting has increased dramatically, and the activity has become heavily commercialized with much of the meat now going to urban residents.

Solutions

Our solutions to protecting the endangered chimpanzee:

Work with communities.

African Wildlife Foundation works with local communities to provide education on, and at times, incentivize conservation. For example, we built Lupani School, a conservation school in the Sekute community. AWF agreed to work with the community on the grounds that they would practice sustainable agriculture and conserve their local wildlife. Also, conservation is built into the school’s curriculum to teach younger generations about protecting their wildlife.

Provide agricultural training.

AWF engages communities living near chimps to create sustainable practices for agricultural and settlement growth by providing training on best practices and incentivizing conservation agriculture when appropriate.

Projects

Will you show chimpanzees your support?

With your help, AWF can work on projects like building conservation schools that secure space for wildlife while providing top-rate education for children and instituting sustainable agricultural practices. Donate for a cause that will help wildlife conservation and ensure the survival of the chimpanzee.

All of Africa’s great ape species are either endangered or critically endangered.

Reason #16 to get involved

You can help protect one of man’s closest relatives—the endagered bonobo. Vital supplies are needed for scouts in the Faunal Reserve of Lomako-Yokokala, a critical bonobo habitat in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Reason #23 to get involved

To maintain its livestock business, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy relies on supplies and education we help provide. Earning just US$100,000 in the first 10 months, this conservation enterprise effort is helping to build the local economy.

Reason #27 to get involved

Reason #28 to get involved

African Wildlife Foundation has helped farmers return to the Congo River as a means of finding new markets for their goods. To improve livelihoods and reduce locals’ reliance on wildlife hunting for survival, efforts like this need continued funding.

Reason #53 to get involved

With loss of habitat and prey, carnivores—like cheetahs and wild dogs—are hunting community livestock. As a result, farmers are forced to kill these species. African Wildlife Foundation needs support training scouts and funding bomas to protect livestock as well as negotiating buffer zones for wildlife.

Reason #26 to get involved

Reason #62 to get involved

Hippos are highly valued for their fatty meat and ivory tusks, putting them in the crosshairs of hunters and poachers. The Zambia Wildlife Authority and the Lower Zambezi Natural Park rely on African Wildlife Foundation's support to secure the park and protect hippos.

Reason #68 to get involved

The impala-like kobs inhabit low-lying hills with permanent water sources, restricting them to regions rapidly being populated by humans. Without any designated buffer zones, this vulnerable species is being hunted at an alarming rate.